With a gentle push, Atlantis
and the International Space Station parted company this evening as the
two spacecraft flew 237 miles over Kazakhstan concluding five days of
work to prepare the outpost for its first resident crew.

Undocking occurred at 6:03
p.m. Central time, as Pilot Scott Horowitz slowly backed Atlantis away
from the space station and then flew a half-circle around the station,
before firing Atlantis' jets in a final separation burn at 6:41 p.m.
Atlantis' crew leaves behind a refurbished and rejuvenated space station
with four new batteries, 10 new smoke detectors, and four new cooling
fans in the Zarya module, a revamped communications system in the Unity
module and 1 ½ tons of other supplies, including clothing and
water.

Now flying solo, the seven-member
Atlantis crew will enjoy several hours of off-duty time tonight in recognition
of the ambitious pace of work they maintained throughout this flight.
Commander Jim Halsell, Horowitz, and Mission Specialists Jeff Williams,
Mary Ellen Weber, Jim Voss, Susan Helms and Yury Usachev will power
down some of the equipment used during today's undocking and flyaround,
and then will perform some routine housekeeping tasks before beginning
their scheduled off duty time.

Toward the end of the crew's
day, Usachev will take some time to talk with Russian media gathered
at the Russian Mission Control Center just outside of Moscow in an event
scheduled at 4:26 a.m. Central time Saturday morning. Usachev, along
with crewmates Voss and Helms, will visit the station again next year
to spend more than four months on board as the second resident crew
scheduled to live on board.

The station is now in the optimum
orbit to await the arrival of the next major station component -- a
Russian-built living quarters that will launch in July -- flying in
an orbit with a high point of 238 miles and a low point of 230 miles,
circling the Earth every 92 minutes.

The next mission status report
will be issued at 7 a.m. Central time.

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